Romantic Portraits, Herman Richir, Brussels 1866 – 1942, Belgian Painter

1866 – 1942

Romantic Portrait Richir Herman Brussels 1866 – 1942 Belgian Painter Signature: Attributed to Richir Herman Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: Image size 59,50 x 58,50 cm, frame size 62 x 61 cm Biography: Richir Herman Jean Joseph was born in Ixelles (Brussels), on November 4, 1866. He was a Belgian painter of portraits, still lifes, genre paintings, nudes and landscapes. He made decorative paintings to fit into private homes. Richir mainly painted portraits. His clients usually belonged to the higher circles. He portrayed amongst others King Albert and Queen Elisabeth, Cardinal Mercier and Countess d’Oultremont. Less known are the landscape paintings he made Limburg and Kempen, where he regularly stayed with befriended artist Emile Van Doren (1865 – 1949). Herman Richir first studied at the Sint-Joost-ten-Node Academy with Gustave Biot and Charles Hermans, continued his education at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels (1884-1889) with the master teacher and artist Jean-Francois Portaels (1818 – 1895). In 1886, during his studies, he won second Prize of Rome for Painting. Richir lived in Schaarbeek. In 1900 he became a teacher of drawing and in 1905 first teacher of painting after nature at the Brussels Academy. He was director there several times 1906-1907, 1910, 1911, 1915-1919, 1925-1927. He was retired in 1927. His pupils included Albert Alleman (1892 – 1933), Éliane de Meuse (1899 – 1993), Paul Hagemans (1884 – 1959), Maurice Mareels (1893 – 1976), Guy Onkelinx (1879 – 1935), Georges Rogy (1897 – 1981), José Storie (1899 – 1961), Charles Swyncop (1895 – 1970), Maurice Schelck...

Léon Herbo Templeuve 1850 – 1907 Ixelles Belgian Painter 'Oriental Woman with Fruits and Flowers' Signature: Signed lower left Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: Image size 75,50 x 9...

Baes Emile Brussels 1879 – 1953 Paris Belgian Painter Female Nude Signature: Signed bottom right Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: Image size 65 x 54 cm Biography: Baes Emile was b...

Judgment of Paris Van Zevenberghen Georges Brussels 1877 – 1968, Belgian Painter Signature: Signed bottom left and dated 37 Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: Image size 50 x 60 cm,...

André Hallet Liège, Belgium 1890 – 1959 Kisenyi, Rwanda Belgian Painter 'The Water Carriers' Signature: Signed bottom left, placed and named on reverse Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: Image size 100 x 80,50 cm, frame size 120,50 x 100,50 cm Biography: Hallet André was born in the Liege in 1890, emerged as a luminary in the world of Belgian post-impressionist painting. His oeuvre, a testament to his profound talent, has graced the walls of over 60 museums worldwide, including the venerable Louvre in Paris, France. Hallet’s artistic repertoire was as expansive as it was breathtaking. He wielded his brush with mastery in a multitude of genres, creating enchanting landscapes, bustling cityscapes, serene garden views, captivating marine scenes, evocative genre depictions, and intimate portraits that breathed life onto his canvases. The journey of André Hallet’s artistry began under the tutelage and guidance of R. Heintz. He honed his craft further at the Academy in Liege. It was in the South of France that Hallet discovered the transcendent allure of light and the sun, infusing his work with a cheerful and impressionistic burst of color. The vibrant hues of his palette mirrored the radiant landscapes he encountered in Flanders and the Mediterranean, from the sun-kissed shores of Southern France to the picturesque vistas of Italy. In 1920, Hallet embarked on a new chapter, working in the enchanting city of Bruges before ultimately settling in Leuven. Each location left its mark on his art, contributing to the rich tapestry of his creative journey. A turning point in Hallet’s life came in 1934 when the Belgian government sent him to Congo. Later, in 1947, he found his home on the shores of Lake Kivu in Kisenyi, present-day Rwanda. It was here that he would spend the remainder of his life, captivated by the mesmerizing beauty of the African landscape. He passed away in 1959, leaving a lasting legacy. During his time in Africa, Hallet forged a deep connection with Tutsi king Mwambi Matura III of Ruanda-Burundi. This relationship inspired a series of exquisitely detailed portraits, offering a glimpse into the regal splendor of the king’s family...

Hubert Malfait Astene 1898 – 1971 Sint-Martens-Latem Belgian Painter 'Sitting Nude' Signature: Signed top left Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions: Image size 90 x 60 cm, frame size 114 x 84 cm Biography: Malfait Hubert was a Belgian painter who belonged to the third Latem School. He was born in 1898 in Astene, Belgium, as the son of the local municipal secretary Jules Malfait. Growing up amidst influential figures like Emile Claus, Valerius De Saedeleer, and Albijn Van den Abeele, who were friends of his father, Malfait developed an early affinity for art. During the war years, he studied at the Gent Academy of Fine Arts alongside Jules De Sutter. A pivotal moment in Malfait's career occurred in 1924 during the exhibition "Laethemsche Kunstenaarskolonie," where he met critics André De Ridder, Paul-Gustave van Hecke, and Georges Marlier. This led him to become an integral part of the avant-garde expressionist group around Gustave De Smet, Frits Van den Berghe, and Constant Permeke. Progressive Brussels galleries strongly supported him, considering him the flagbearer of a new generation of expressionists. Despite economic challenges and the bankruptcy of Le Centaure, Malfait's primary supporter, in 1932, he continued to shape the Brussels art scene. Emmanuel de Bom defended him, asserting the vitality of expressionism. Malfait reemerged in 1934 with an exhibition at Galerie Louis Manteau. In the 1930s, Malfait was a prominent figure in the Gent art scene, showcasing his works at venues like Ars and later at Galerie Vyncke-van Eyck. The economic crisis and Le Centaure's bankruptcy affected Malfait, but he resurged in 1934 with an exhibition at Galerie Louis Manteau. The war years marked a shift in Malfait's exhibitions, with major solo shows occurring in 1944. He exhibited paintings in Galerie Brueghel and drawings in Galerie Apollo. The Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Oostende organized an extensive retrospective just before his death in 1971. Malfait's artistic evolution saw him transition from impressionism to expressionism, influenced by Eugène Laermans and Jakob Smits...

This charming oil painting on marouflé canvas was designed by Robert Roujas (1908-2000). This romantic composition presents a study of a reclining nude seen from behind in a weary po...

Daniel Ludwig. Residue of Yesterday- this work of art is an original oil painting on linen. Size: H:76 cm x W:61 cm Daniel Ludwig is an American figurative artist who lives and wor...

Beautiful drawing by Jean-Baptiste Valadie, hand-signed, museum frame

Julius EXNER (Copenhagen, 1825 - Copenhagen, 1910) Model stripping Oil on canvas H. 122 cm; L. 74 cm Signed and dated 1842 lower right Exhibition: most likely Charlottenborg Salon of 1845, under number 110, titled Modelfigur, awarded with a silver medal Provenance: Emilio Fernando Bolt (c.1860 - 1944), acquired from the artist around 1900, then by descent Our painting was produced as part of the summer sessions organized between 1839 and 1850 by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg (1783-1853), the master of Danish painting of the first half of the 19th century, in his private studio-apartment on the ground floor. floor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. The master brought together a few students there between June and September, rented one or two models for the season, which were painted from different angles, the artists (including Eckersberg himself) sitting side by side. Eckersberg used to paint a fairly small version, the pupils of the larger formats. The work fits more generally into the legendary context of the research and reforms carried out by Eckersberg concerning the studies of nudes and in particular of female nudes, to make this exercise a genre of painting in its own right. Following his two-year stint in Jacques-Louis David's studio in Paris in 1811, Eckersberg had been made aware of work on the nude and in particular on live models, in natural light, while in Denmark the drawings were then only made from casts of antique models or other mannequins. In 1822, when he had been a professor there since 1818, it was he who had the Royal Academy of Copenhagen authorize the study of nudes, no longer in the evening by candlelight, but in natural light; from 1833, it was still he who allowed students to work on nude female models, even if the official authorization of the Academy did not take place until 1839. It was this same year that he instituted his summer sessions, on a private basis, to orient his painting and that of his students towards a new conception of the representation of models: even if the nude remains the real theme, it does not however, this is more than just an academic exercise. The subject is placed in a contemporary interior, with a rather sophisticated decor, and occupied with an intimate activity (it is this type of intimate vein that we will find later in Degas or Cassatt for example); thus in our painting, the young woman is supposed to take off her clothes to wash. The objective is that the viewer forgets that the master and his students are painting a model during a posing session, and that he instead has the impression of being alone with the model, but invisible, almost like a voyeur in spite of himself. Moreover, in these paintings, the model never looks towards the spectator, inducing a psychological distance with him, whereas model and artist are actually physically very close. On the other hand, it is not a question of idealized nudes either, even if Eckersberg, proof of his debt to the antique, chooses fairly classic models and poses. The sensuality is real and very present, with dreamy, even innocent, and timeless expressions (the models do not seem to have a defined age), suave and slow attitudes and movements, and especially with clothes that hide or reveal skillfully parts of the female body: upper buttocks, pronounced hips... Made by an artist under 20, our sensual painting is probably one of the most beautiful and spectacular produced by the students of Eckersberg during these summer sessions. With a perfect balance between the firmness of an ancient statue (it recalls the Venus de Milo) and the softness of the feminine forms, highlighted by a harmonious palette, it captures the attention with many details: the almost photographic folds white clothing...

Alejandro Casanova Entanglement in Red and Blue 130 x 89 cm oil on canvas The Spanish artist Alejandro Casanova lives and works in Tenerife, where ...

Alejandro Casanova Playing around 100 x 100 cm oil on canvas The Spanish artist Alejandro Casanova lives and works in Tenerife, where he moved afte...